• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.525-534
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• 2014

Environmental problems typically occurring in abandoned mine lands (AML) include: contaminated and acidic surface water and groundwater; stockpiled waste rock and mill tailings; and ground subsidences due to mining operations. This study examines the effectiveness of various geophysical techniques for mapping potential hazard and contaminated zones. Four AML sites with sedimentation contamination problems, acid mine drainage (AMD) channels, ground subsidence, manmade liner leakage, and buried mine tailings, were selected to examine the applicability of various geophysical methods to the identification of the different types of mine hazards. Geophysical results were correlated to borehole data (core samples, well logs, tomographic profiles, etc.) and water sample data (pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and heavy metal contents). Zones of low electrical resistivity (ER) corresponded to areas contaminated by heavy metals, especially contamination by Cu, Pb, and Zn. The main pathways of AMD leachate were successfully mapped using ER methods (low anomaly peaks), self-potential (SP) curves (negative peaks), and ground penetrating radar (GPR) at shallow penetration depths. Mine cavities were well located based on composite interpretations of ER, seismic tomography, and well-log records; mine cavity locations were also observed in drill core data and using borehole image processing systems (BIPS). Damaged zones in buried manmade liners (used to block descending leachate) were precisely detected by ER mapping, and buried rock waste and tailings piles were characterized by low-velocity zones in seismic refraction data and high-resistivity zones in the ER data.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.1-11
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• 2015

This research was conducted to compare the effect of soil amendment and loess on physial and chemical properties of dredged soil and primary height growth of Ulmus davidiana var. japonica. Three types of research plots: control plot (Dredged soil only), DC treatment plot (Dredged soil + soil amendment) and DCL treatment plot (Dredged soil + soil amendment + Loess) were set at Okgu research site in Saemanguem. 32 trees of U. davidiana var. japonica were planted in each plots after 14 months from the construction. Soil texture, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (TN), available P, exchangeable cation ($K^+$, $Na^+$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Ca^{2+}$) and sodium chloride were measured after 3 years from the construction. Also, survival rate and height of U. davidiana var. japonica were measured 22 months after planting, and the correlation between height of trees and the physico-chemical properties of soil were analyzed. Even though pH in both DC and DCL treatment plots are lower than control plot, they are still alkaline (> pH 8). OM, TN and available P in both DC and DCL treatment were higher than the control. Particularly, the content of available P in both DC and DCL treatment plots are 1.4~5.1 times and 2.0~3.1 times higher than the control respectively. The concentration of exchangeable Mg in DCL treatment plot was 1.1~5.5 times higher than the control (p < .05). The survival rate of the species was the highest in DCL treatment plot (98%) followed by DC treatment plot and the control. The average height of the trees in both DC and DCL treatment plots is 1.1m while the control is 0.8m. OM, TN, available P, K+ were significantly related to the height of U. davidiana var. japonica(p < .01). The results indicate that soil amendment affects on soil physial and chemical properties of dredged soil and height growth of U. davidiana var. japonica.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.647-657
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• 2011

This paper describes the moment capacity of flexural members with local buckling based on a series of FE and experiment results. Thin-walled flexural members undergo local, lateral-torsional, or interactive buckling according to the section geometries and lateral boundary conditions. Flexural members with large width-to-thickness ratios in the flanges or the web may undergo local buckling before lateral-torsional buckling. Local buckling has a negative effect on the flexural strength based on the lateral-torsional buckling of flexural members. This phenomenon should be considered in the estimation of the flexural strength of thin-walled sections. Flexural members with various width-to-thickness ratios in their flanges and web were analyzed. Initial imperfections in the local buckling mode, and residual stresses, were included in the FE analyses. Simple bending moment formulae for flexural members were proposed based on the FE and test results to account for local and lateral-torsional buckling. The proposed bending moment formulae for the thin-walled flexural members in the Direct Strength Method use the empirical strength formula and the grosssection modulus. The ultimate flexural strengths predicted by the proposed moment formulae were compared with the AISC (2005), Eurocode3 (2003), and Korean Highway Bridge Design Specifications (2010). The comparison showed that the proposed bending moment formulae can reasonably predict the ultimate moment capacity of thin-walled flexural members.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.232-238
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• 2005

There are growing needs for improving the general performances of the domestic working environment evaluation organizations. For this purpose, introduction of laboratory accreditation program has been suggested. This study was conducted as a part of this effort. With a questionnaire developed in accordance with the ISO/IEC 17025, the current status of industrial hygiene (IH) laboratories in terms of manpower, management and technical aspects. The results of this study were as follows: 1. The average working staffs' number of the working environment evaluation organizations was $6.8{\pm}3.3$ persons. In addition, 49% of all organizations are run by less than 5 persons. This suggests that manpower of Korean IH laboratories is very limited. 2. IH laboratories surveyed in this study obtained 53% of the points by the international standard. And there is significant correlation between the number of staffing and total scores (P<0.05). 3. The period of work experience is one of the most important factors to determine the working capability. The average year of work experience of the laboratories' directors was $13.5{\pm}5.3$ years. Directors with more wok experiences obtained higher scores on the questions that ask to prove the appropriateness of the research methodology (p<0.05). 4. As for academic qualifications of laboratory directors, 14% had Ph.D., 31% with Master's, 29% with Bachelor's, and 4% had Associate degree. There was significant correlation between the total scores and the general managers' academic background (p<0.05). The 27% of laboratory directors have majored in either industrial hygiene or health, 8% majored in medicine, another 8% majored environmental studies, and 6% majored in chemistry. 5. Only 14% of all IH laboratories surveyed employ directors with Certified Industrial Hygienist licence, 41% have general managers with Certified Associate Industrial Hygienist (Level 1) licence, and 45% of all laboratories either employ directors without relevant qualification or did not respond. When the laboratory manger holds relevant qualification, laboratory health and safety management was better (p<0.05). 6. When compared to the general international standard in terms of the management, and 55% in terms of technological level.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.87-93
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• 2011

S-Adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (SAMDC; EC 4.1.4.50), a key enzyme for polyamines biosynthesis, was tightly regulated for homeostatic levels. Carnation SAMDC gene (CSDC9) has an small upstream open reading frame (uORF) of 54 amino acids in 5'-leader sequence. To explore the functional mechanism of uORFs in controlling translation, we used a GUS reporter gene driven with the 35S promoter and uORF region of SAMDC gene for making transgenic tobacco plants. In our experiment, there were a translational inhibition of its downstream GUS ORF by SAMDC uORF sequence or SAMDC uORF protein. Expecially, translational inhibition was most effective in point-mutated construct, in which the start codon was changed. Therefore, this results suggested the ribosomal stalling might be involved in this translational inhibitory process. The frame shift in amino acid sequence of SAMDC uORF with start codon and stop codon resulted in a moderate increasing in GUS activity, suggesting the native amino acid sequence was important for a function as a translational inhibitor. Also, we showed that the production of GUS protein was significantly inhibited in the presence of the small uORF using histochemical analysis of GUS expression in seedlings and tobacco flowers. Importantly, the small uORF sequence induced a real peptide of 5.7 kDa, which was provided the presence of SAMDC uORF peptide band using an in vitro transcription/translation system. The peptide product of uORF might interact with other components of translational machinery as well as polyamines, which was resulted from that polyamine treatment was inhibited GUS protein band in SDS-PAGE experiment.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.357-370
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• 2009

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of compost leachate and concentrated slurry on growth of tomato in hydroponic culture. In process of composting, compost leachate was produced water was through a saturated compost heap. The concentrated slurry was produced by filtration and concentration by membrane process. Filtration of pig slurry was necessary to prevent the hose clogging in hydroponics culture. The treatments of this experiment were consisted of seven different liquid fertilizers; compost leachate(CL), concentrated pig slurry (CS), compost leachate+byproduct(CL+BP), concentrated pig slurry+byproduct(CS+BP), compost leachate 50%+nutrient solution50%(CL+NS), concentrated pig slurry 50%+nutrient solution50%(CS+NS) and nutrient solution(NS) for tomato based on nitrogen content. The chemical nutrient solution was the solution of National Horticulture Research Station for the growth of tomato. The concentration of nutrient solution was adjusted a range of $1.6{\sim}2.0 mS/cm$ in EC. 1. The compost leachate and concentrated pig slurry were low in phosphorus(P), calcium(Ca), magnesium(Mg), but rich in potassium(K). 2. Plant height, SPAD value of tomato was highest in the plot of CS+NS, intermediate in CL, CS+BP, and lowest in 100% concentrated pig slurry. 3. The tomato yield of compost leachate plot was 91% compared with inorganic nutrient solution. The compost leachate solution could be used as a nutrition solution of tomato in organic hydroponics. 4. The growth including plant height, SPAD value, fruit number, fruit weight and yield of tomato in the CL 50%+NS 50% was similar in the control. In conclusion, the mixture solution of 50% pig slurry and 50% nutrient solution could be used as a nutrition solution of tomato hydroponic culture.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.381-391
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• 2009

Crop production can be secured by the cycle of green manure crops as an alternative of the chemical fertilizer. Recently, rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) has been cultivated in the south part of Korea for the production of biodiesel. In this research, we focused on recycling rapeseed residue, which is produced after harvesting the rapeseed for biodiesel, as a potential source of nitrogen to the succeeding crop. Pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of winter rapeseed as green manure on mineralization and uptake of nitrogen to the succeeding corn (Zea mays L.). Result showed that total nitrogen and C/N ratio of rapeseed at the harvesting stage was 0.54% and 63, respectively. The incorporation of rapeseed without decomposition period slightly inhibited nitrogen uptake to the succeeding corn compared to those with 30 days decomposition period. The pH and EC values of soils increased by increasing the period of decomposition of rapeseed from 5.2 to 6.4 and from 0.05 dS/m to 0.21 dS/m, respectively. Significant amounts of $NH_4^+$ and $NO_3^-$ are released by incorporation of rapeseed. The succeeding corn took up 86% and 88% of inorganic nitrogen released from the rapeseed with and without decomposition period, respectively. The overall results suggested that the utilization of rapeseed residue as green manure can be an alternative source of nitrogen in corn-rapeseed double cropping system.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1841-1846
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• 2009

Menopause is often associated with the incidence of several chronic diseases including osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is an effective regimen that has been found to prevent these diseases in postmenopausal women. However, HRT is accompanied by an increased risk of unfavorable outcomes. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Ecklonia cava, a kind of seaweed, extract on bone turnover markers in symptomatic menopausal women. For this study, the following four groups of 9-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were evaluated over 6 weeks: normal rats (SHAM), ovariectomized rats (OVX-CON) and ovariectomized rats that were treated with Ecklonia cava extracts. The optimum extraction temperature and solvent of Ecklonia cava were found to be $80^{\circ}C$ and 80% ethanol. We measured the osteocalcin and CTx content, enzyme ALP activity in serum and collagen content in the cartilage, bone, skin and lungs. We found that the levels of indicators of bone metabolism such as ALP, osteocalcin and CTx were lower in rats in the Ecklonia cava extract group than the OVX-CON group. In addition, the collagen contents in the bone, cartilage, skin and lungs decreased in response to ovariectomy, but the levels of collagen were greater in the bone of rats that were treated with Ecklonia cava extract than in the bone of rats in the OVX-CON group. According to these results, we were able to know the effects of Ecklonia cava extract on bone aging in ovariectomized rats. Consequently, we expect Ecklonia cava extract to have an effect on bone aging in postmenopausal women.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.9
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• pp.656-663
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• 2014

Gintonin, a novel, ginseng-derived G protein-coupled lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptor ligand, elicits $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ transients in neuronal and non-neuronal cells via pertussis toxin-sensitive and pertussis toxin-insensitive G proteins. The slowly activating delayed rectifier $K^+$ ($I_{Ks}$) channel is a cardiac $K^+$ channel composed of KCNQ1 and KCNE1 subunits. The C terminus of the KCNQ1 channel protein has two calmodulin-binding sites that are involved in regulating $I_{Ks}$ channels. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms of gintonin-mediated activation of human $I_{Ks}$ channel activity by expressing human $I_{Ks}$ channels in Xenopus oocytes. We found that gintonin enhances $I_{Ks}$ channel currents in concentration- and voltage-dependent manners. The $EC_{50}$ for the $I_{Ks}$ channel was $0.05{\pm}0.01{\mu}g/ml$. Gintonin-mediated activation 1 of the $I_{Ks}$ channels was blocked by an LPA1/3 receptor antagonist, an active phospholipase C inhibitor, an $IP_3$ receptor antagonist, and the calcium chelator BAPTA. Gintonin-mediated activation of both the $I_{Ks}$ channel was also blocked by the calmodulin (CaM) blocker calmidazolium. Mutations in the KCNQ1 $[Ca^{2+}]_i$/CaM-binding IQ motif sites (S373P, W392R, or R539W)blocked the action of gintonin on $I_{Ks}$ channel. However, gintonin had no effect on hERG $K^+$ channel activity. These results show that gintonin-mediated enhancement of $I_{Ks}$ channel currents is achieved through binding of the $[Ca^{2+}]_i$/CaM complex to the C terminus of KCNQ1 subunit.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.101-109
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• 2015

Classic galactosemia (OMIM #230400) is an autosomal recessive inherited metaboic disorder caused by a deficiency of the galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (GALT, EC2.7.7.12) due to mutations in the GALT gene. If untreated, classic galactosemia is a potentially lethal disease presenting with poor feeding, vomiting, jaundice, liver failure, increased bleeding tendency, and septicemia leading to death within a few days after birth. Since 2006, expansion of newborn screening has been enabled the early diagnosis and early intervention of classic galactosemia in Korea. However, newborn screening, followup testing for confirmatory diagnosis and intervention for galactosemia continue to present challenges. In Korea, the prevalence of the classic galactosemia is considered relatively low compared to that of western countries. And the genotype is also clearly different from those of other population. Therefore, our own guideline for confirmatory diagnosis and intervention is needed. Here, the diagnostic algorithm for galactosemia after positive newborn screening result in Korea has been proposed. Considering the low prevalence and different mutation spectrum in Koreans, the early mutation analysis of GALT gene could be a useful tool for the accurate diagnosis and making any treatment decision.